


Not Okay but Pretty Normal

by asexualjuliet



Category: Friday Night Lights
Genre: Episode: s04e04 A Sort of Homecoming, Gen, Landry Clarke is a damn good friend, mentioned canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 06:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20701817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualjuliet/pseuds/asexualjuliet
Summary: The one where Matt’s dad is dead and Landry’s a damn good friend.





	Not Okay but Pretty Normal

**Author's Note:**

> No one’s actually gonna read this except Mary so oof. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, Mary.

**Messages (1)**

** jujubetaylor—> landrygclarke**

**jujubetaylor** Hey Landry are you there

**landrygclarke** Yeah what’s up?

**jujubetaylor** Matt’s dad was killed. 

**jujubetaylor** I just thought you should know. 

-

Holy crap. 

Matt’s dad was a jerk. Landry hated him for leaving his son to take care of Lorraine, but _ holy crap. _

He’s gone. 

Matt used to start sentences with “_when my dad gets back from Iraq... _”

_ When my dad gets back from Iraq, we’ll get ice cream and play mini golf like we used to. _

_ When my dad gets back from Iraq, I’ll bring him to one of my football games _

_ When my dad gets back from Iraq, I’ll introduce him to Julie. _

_ When my dad gets back from Iraq, I’ll tell him I want to be an artist. _

Landry is never going to hear Matt start a sentence like that again. 

It’s weird, he thinks, that someone can be alive one moment and gone the next. 

It scares him. 

So before he knows it, he’s in his car, starting the engine, cranking Crucifictorius’ new demo, and heading to Matt’s house. 

Landry pulls into the driveway and makes his way across the dying front lawn that used to be green when they were little but hasn’t been since Matt’s dad left. 

He knocks on the front door that Matt once closed his finger in a long time ago, when he had a happy, complete family. 

Shelby opens the door, face seemingly tear-free, and says in a tired voice “Hey, Landry, what are you doing here?”

Matt’s voice echoes in the background and he’s saying _ come on, Grandma, it’s okay, why don’t we go to sleep okay? _

“You guys seem like you need some help?” He says, and it’s not really a question, but he asks it anyway. 

“You really don’t have to do that.”

“No, I—I want to.”

She simply nods and lets him inside. 

—

After Landry has cleaned the kitchen, replaced the lightbulb in the bathroom and taken out the trash, Matt enters the living room, where Shelby’s reading over the army’s death notification letter. 

“Oh, hey—hey, Landry,” he says, and his eyes are red. 

“I’m really sorry.”

It’s not enough, not nearly enough, but Landry doesn’t know what else to say.

“Thanks,” Matt says quietly, and the silence stretches out before Landry wraps him in an awkward hug. 

“I’m really sorry, but like—if you need any help, I got you? And I—I know that sounds dumb, but it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

Matt laughs and says “Thanks, man.”

And everything’s definitely not okay, but at least it’s pretty normal?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> All mistakes are my own, please let me know if you see any!
> 
> Kudos/Comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
